


Shiraz

by ohmytheon



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-04 02:36:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1763099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmytheon/pseuds/ohmytheon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wine has been both business and pleasure for Catelyn Stark for most of her life. It's no surprise that Tywin Lannister has his hands in it too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shiraz

It was no [secret](http://ohmytheon.tumblr.com/tagged/the-things-of-songs#) that Catelyn loved wine. She’d grown up on little vineyard after all. Riverrun Wines was a small vineyard that only produced a steady amount of fruit wines, but it was what she knew and loved. She had been raised on grapes, she would say. As a child, she would run through the rows of vines and would help pick grapes when the time came. Her father taught her [how to make wine](http://ohmytheon.tumblr.com/tagged/the-things-of-songs#). Some days, when he was feeling fanciful, they’d smash the grapes together. She’d sip on the wines here and there, but never enough to even get tipsy. That first sweet taste of strawberry wine was still fresh on her tongue all those years later.

Wine was how she met her husband. It was common for people that owned wineries to visit other wineries. That was the fun part. Catelyn loved touring wineries almost as much as she enjoyed tasting the wine itself. She adored the atmosphere, the people, the smells. Everyone had different techniques, though some were the same as well. Of course she wasn’t privy to their secrets, but she liked conversing with her fellow wine makers.

Ned’s family had been making wine for generations and would be for many generations to come, even after his sudden passing. She’d been just freshly turned twenty-one when she visited the Winterfell Winery. It was further north than most wineries, but that gave their grapes and therefore their wine a unique flavor. While wandering the vineyard away from the rest of the [tour](http://ohmytheon.tumblr.com/tagged/the-things-of-songs#) group, a young man had come up to her asking if she was alright and if he could help her. That man had been Ned. He’d been a little taken aback when she’d apologized for straying from the group and introduced herself.

_“Tully? As in Tully from Riverrun Wines? You make the best sweet wines I’ve ever had,”_ she remembered him saying, his grey eyes wide. It had made him look so young. She’d learned to love to surprise him, if only to see his normally serious face melt away.

Winterfell Winery was more known for their dry whites, especially their crisp chardonnays, though they had a hearty selection of dry reds and even a few semi-sweet wines. Most wineries almost tended to look down on those that made sweet wines, like Riverrun Wines and White Harbor Ports, but Ned always admired the [dessert](http://ohmytheon.tumblr.com/tagged/the-things-of-songs#) and fruity wines her family made.

_“Riverrun Wines are for the summer,”_ she would tell her children as they grew, _“and Winterfell Winery wines are for the winter.”_

They loved that. Ned had loved that. For their wedding, he’d surprised her with a wine that he’d created specifically for her and for their wedding. According to her blushing groom, he’d started the preparations for the wine after their first date.

Even after all this time, after fifteen years of [marriage](http://ohmytheon.tumblr.com/tagged/the-things-of-songs#), after five children, and three years after Ned’s car accident, Catelyn still had a [bottle](http://ohmytheon.tumblr.com/tagged/the-things-of-songs#) of that wine sitting in her cellar, unopened until the right day came. She’d thought that they would split that bottle on one of their anniversaries, but it never happened. Now she thought that she would give the bottle away when Robb was married or maybe Sansa, the only two of her children that were close to getting married.

It had been a long time since she’d gone to tour a winery, much less on her own. After she began dating Ned, he’d always accompanied her and they’d gone on so many little wine touring adventures throughout the world together. The idea of going on her own, like she had before she’d met Ned, stung her quite a bit. She could remember the joy, but it seemed like such a faint memory.

It had been Robb’s idea for her to visit a winery. _“It’s time,”_ he’d said, the same solemn look in his blue eyes that his father had had.

And he was right. It was time. Three years had passed since her late husband’s death. She’d thrown herself into her work, having had to take over the Stark family winery until Robb graduated from college. Winterfell Winery produced some of its most incredible, award-winning wine in the past three years, credit to her hard work and dedication. Apparently, sorrow was the perfect recipe for wine when it came to her.

But now it was her time to step out of the winery and give back to herself. Her children had surprised her with a wine tour trip. She wouldn’t be going alone, of course. Her closest friend, Maege Mormont, would be accompanying her. A girls’ trip, her daughter Sansa had called it. Maege was definitely more of a beer drinker, but she liked adventure and was the perfect person to drag Catelyn out of her shell.

All of that – her children, her friend, her work, and even Ned’s passing years ago – was how Catelyn found herself at a wine tasting at one of her family’s strongest rival’s wineries.

Catelyn had tasted and drank Casterly Rock wine before. The winery itself sat at the edge of a cliff, the sea crashing below it, making a very unique scene. She could smell a mixture of the salty ocean and wine in the air. No other winery she’d ever been to cast such a striking impression. The wine was very much the same – deep, very red, ranging from the sweetest of sweet to the driest of dry, and all so very rich. That was what Casterly Rock was known for. Their red wines were rich with flavor. It was easy to pick a Casterly Rock wine out of a blind tasting. It was something of a myth or legend that their most expensive wine had gold flakes in it, but no one at the winery gave comment on that specific question.

“I’m not one for blushes, but my god,” Maege sighed after damn near downing the rest of her wine sample. “You said this place is known for its reds, but I could drink bottles of that.”

Catelyn sipped on the cawtawba wine and, almost begrudgingly, nodded her head in agreement. “That is…quite delicious indeed.”

“And that is quite a compliment coming from Catelyn Stark,” a man’s voice came from behind them.

The two women turned around, Catelyn still holding onto her glass, and caught sight of a striking man in a suit and dark red tie. He had graying hair, but his eyes were a vibrant green and gold color, and though he was older than her, he was still handsome.

“Tywin Lannister, owner of Casterly Rock Vineyard,” Catelyn responded, a little too stiffly for her taste.

“I certainly did not expect to find the owner of my competition at a regular wine tasting today or any other day for that matter,” Tywin said, though his face did not betray a hint of surprise whatsoever.

Catelyn just smiled and finished her wine sample. “I wouldn’t be very good competition if I didn’t see and taste for myself what I was up against.”

“No, I suppose not.” Tywin looked at the two women, almost as if appraising them, but it was clear that his focus was mainly on Catelyn. After all, she was the wine maker of the two. Ask Maege about a beer, and she could tell you almost anything, but she only truly drank the wines that Catelyn suggested to her and nothing else. Catelyn trusted Maege with her and Maege trusted Catelyn with wine. “Well, if you truly want to find out what you’re up against, then I suggest ditching this little wine tasting. It is far beneath you. Would you care to join me for a private tour? I’ve got a few new intriguing wines that I’d be interested in having your opinion on.”

Before Catelyn could say anything, Maege cut it, “That sounds great, but why don’t just the two of you go? After all, you two are the wine people.”

“Oh, Maege, I couldn’t–”

“Nonsense, Cat,” Maege interrupted, not meanly though. “I’m pretty much done with wine right now, but I want to look through the shop and the rest of this place. You go on with Mr. Lannister. Have a great time.” She winked. “Show him just how great you really are.”

And with that, Maege wandered off in the direction of the shop, leaving Catelyn alone with Tywin, her main rival. She looked at him, almost suspiciously, considering his offer, and the nodded her head. “Well, lead the way, I suppose.” As they started for the stairs that most likely led to the cellar where most of their wine was stored, she added, “I must say though; in all honesty, it is a…honor to be given such a privileged insight to how your winery works. I imagine not many people outside of your family know anything. You’re mostly family run, are you not?”

“Yes, the good thing about having a very large extended family is that we can have a large business and produce a great quantity of wine and still keep it in the family,” Tywin told her. “I taught my children everything I could about wine from childhood.”

“I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did,” Catelyn said, thinking back on her days with her father. Though Riverrun Wines was now run by her younger brother Edmure with the help of their Uncle Brynden, she was still thankful that her father taught her just as much as her brother. It came in handy when she took control of Winterfell Winery.

“And I hope they are just as excellent as you are in the wine making business,” Tywin replied before unlocking the door to the cellar and opening it for her. “Shall the tour begin?”

Catelyn smiled again, blush tinging her cheeks, and stepped inside the cool cellar. Maybe this trip was a good idea. After all, so many interesting things were starting to happen.


End file.
